The Hat

In Jan Brett’s well-loved book, The Hat, Hedgie the hedgehog discovers the wisdom of the adage “Don’t go poking your nose where it doesn’t belong”—but only after curiosity gets this prickly fellow in a pickle.

“Winter was on the way. Lisa took her woolen clothes out of the chest and carried them outside. She was hanging them up in the fresh air, when a strong wind blew one of her stockings off the line…”

When Lisa’s red-and-white woolen stocking blows off the clothesline, Hedgie finds it and sticks his nose inside, only to discover his prickles prevent him from pulling out of it. Soon all the farm animals are coming around to chuckle at silly Hedgie’s stocking cap. But in the end, nimble-witted Hedgie gets the last laugh.